One of the most favourable reviews for my self-created #OrangeDay in June was that it “broke all conventions and brought a new paradigm to sports watching.” High praise indeed and there was never a plan for a follow-up, but it was actually quite enjoyable and did heighten the occasion so my mind did start to create some other ideas that could tie in with a sporting spectacle of sorts.

It was a tough act to follow but I was keen to do another themed day whilst continuously posting updates on social media throughout the day. It’s what many people call “content” nowadays! The much anticipated and eagerly awaited follow up avoided doing just another colour-themed day (that might happen one day though!) and instead used the arrival in Japan of one of Germany’s biggest football teams to launch #DeutschDay. I may be English but I have a lot of love for Germany (outside of the football team!) having lived and worked there for a few months back in 2003.

Whilst #OrangeDay started with some juice, #DeutschDay also began with a beverage but this one was a German specialty. Apfelschorle is a “classic” apple juice and sparkling water drink.

My host family in Hamburg in the early 2000s often had this at mealtimes and I did get used to the taste back then but this was the first time in over two decades to have it. Times have changed I guess and I didn’t really enjoy it as I just do not like fizzy water.

Nothing says authentic local cuisine more than a German potato croissant (?) which I’d picked up a couple of nights earlier.

I thought the bread might be a bit stale by the time I ate it but toasting it helped and it was indeed very nice.

Perhaps the most random and out of place post of the day were my Mexico 86 World Cup erasers (can we still call them rubbers?!) featuring two West Germany ones.

I found these in an old box at my parents’ house earlier in the year and brought them back to Japan. I never quite completed the full collection!!

Spezi is a cola-orange fusion dating back to 1950s Germany.

This was actually my first time to try such a concoction, and it just shows how the simple idea of blending two familiar flavours can become an iconic beverage in its own right.

No expense was spared as I later splashed out on some baumkuchen, the cake with characteristic rings which is a popular dessert in Japan.

No German-themed day would be complete with some Haribo sweets I guess, and these packets were picked up at the same time as the aforementioned croissant.

It was then time to actually leave the Tokyo Fox Global Operations Centre in Itabashi-ku and get on down to a little-known German park in Bunkyo ward. Kaiserslautern Square is a small concrete recreational area in a corner of Kyoiku-no-Mori Park.

Kaiserslautern is located around 100 kilometres from Frankfurt in the south-west of Germany, and since 1988 they have had a co-operation agreement with sister city Bunkyo. This co-operation agreement began with the aim of contributing to world peace as well as friendly international relations and mutual understanding.

It was named Kaiserlautern Square in 1993 and the sculptures installed are by husband and wife Gernot and Barbara Rumpf, who are of course from Kaiserslautern. The theme is “an invitation to mythical space” and legendary European creatures are prevalent including two small sculptures, ammonit (ammonite) and schnecken (snails).  The einhorn (unicorn) is undoubtedly the feature point of the park and it is ok to climb on it but not on the head!

The fisch (fish) is pretty cool too and one that I did climb on. More details here.

Note that in the introduction to this post I did not say Germany’s “biggest” football club so that ruled out Bayern Munich with most people probably guessing the team involved was Borussia Dortmund. The title of the post gave it away too! The 1997 Champions League winners were back in Japan for a mini tour including matches in Osaka and Tokyo.

The latter one was against FC Tokyo and took place at the National Stadium on an incredibly rainy evening. Indeed, the horrendous conditions saw play temporarily suspended for about 25 minutes during the first half. Before that interruption, I had eaten a couple of food items including German rock salt tabekko dobutsu snacks and a so-called frankfurter.

Once play was resumed the action was much better, especially in the second half. The match finished with a narrow 1-0 win for Dortmund. More details here.

Back at home that evening I wasn’t quite prepared to let #DeutschDay end. There was still time to squeeze some final drops out of the German content by watching ‘Lola Rennt‘ (1998) a.k.a. ‘Run Lola Run‘ and my wife joined me too.

I’m a big fan of this film but was quite surprised that she had seen it too. My main reason for going to Berlin in 2012 was to see the filming locations from this wonderful movie. We even listened to some of the soundtrack the next morning on good old-fashioned CD which technically was within 24 hours of this themed day beginning.

That may have marked the end of #DeutschDay but it won’t be long for the follow up. That’s because it’s already happened! Anyone who follows me on social media may well have already noticed what it was but if you haven’t seen any of that then fear not as it will appear on this site soon. Bis bald!

Click here to read ‘Bundesliga Giants Borussia Dortmund Light Up Tokyo Amidst Horrendous Conditions’

Click here to read ‘German Giants Bayern Munich Back in Japan for a Couple of Money-Spinning Friendlies’

Click here to read ‘The Little-Known German Park in Tokyo (+ Memories of My Time Living & Working in Hamburg)’

Click here to read ‘#OrangeDay: A Double Header of Dramatic End-of-Season Matches’